The Sun. — London, England, 1809-12-09 00:00:00

~~~^ UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 41 SECOND LETTER TO TUE mEmitrßs OF CONVOCA.• TION, vßog AN INDEPENDENT MASTER OF ARTS. Oxford, Dec. 5. Mr. myletter; inserted a few trays j since in your Paper," requested the attention of the Mernhers of Convocation to the temoustrances of the University againit the doctrines of Lord GREN vieLze It , appeared evident from them; that he and we were 'completely the antipodes of each other: that when we thought it our duty to travel One road 'his Lordship took another, 'nod dire6tly the . oppo site. My chief reason for the publicstion. ol" that letteemas, because I was satisfied; as I -s:ill. ant; that I many hundreds of our absentee .Members Were not';.; folly informed of.these proceedings. They are now'' brought under notice; and their :weight will be..inst-: ly appreciated. . It will :be remeinbered that a non plaeet has been three timesexpiessecl:against the priticiples of Lord GaeNvieeE;byeti - tiee solemn and • unanimous votes passed - iu the- Convocation Hoe se of the .Univereity: -Whoever thinks of this mill pause a -few' minutes,: and , must feel' himself - under the urgency •of nothing short-" of iintnedtate and uncontroulable necessity's - - (such are Lord GRENVILLE'S words), if he can be induced to.enter the walls of the same Convocation House; and de clare that man -deserving of the confidence , the I. University, against whom suc h re solutions ..are re- j corded. What has his Lordship, done to retleeni 1 himself, and work out the reversal of his academical attainder ? -lie refused to give the KING a pltclgeei :let to renew the Catholic Question. Has he given I us that pledge ? No ; for I here 'publicly assert;„ I that his letter to the Principal of Brazen Nose-most positively refuses it. What is his Lordship's merit 1 then at this moment ? That of stubborn inflexibi lity ;—a whimiical reason this for our submission. — After giving you 'this caution not to surrender your consistency and characterto the GRENVILLJTE, let me intreat - you next to take care' lest seize; and run away with your privileges. I will xpleid.what I mean. I rather think that'. manyTof, us are not quite apprized of the power, belongingfo the office of our Chaucellor. I • have not time 'to examine into ail of them; but I will seleti one es aipecimen • i —Our Chancellor, be it recollected; , is the Keeper 1 of our Seal, the right of possess:en and dominion over which belongs exclusively aitd solely to him, I though he may delegate its use if he pietism Should Lord GRENVIL Ls be raised to this, office, , ,only consi der how the privilege of addressing and -petitioning will he elected. Do you suppose his Lordship will allow the, 'Seal to' be affixed to a petition directly and personally levelled against him Self ? t" go, no,. will his Lordship say, ycu have petitioned enough Already, and until you understand- good- breeding bet ter, eild are brought a little more to your senses, I shall lock up the Seals in my .strong box at Bocon neck. In the mean time; what becomes of this privilege of thinking and speaking ? Are you cer tain you can get the better of iris Lordship ? Be Dot too confident,of this. But if relief may he bad, how is it to be got at ? - Through the medium of a struggle wills your own ,Chancellor in 'Westminster Hall ; N law-suit, to rescue from violence that first I article in the Academical Bill of .Rights, the right of i declaring your sentiments; an idiot' against the i - Keeper of the Conscience of the University for run- i wing; away with it. Will you deliver your Seals, then, to Lord GRENVILLE, for the purpose only of :disarming yourselves of your only weapon of de fence against his attack's ? If you can do this, oh lepidos homines, your under graduates will applaud 1 his Lordship for thuS plucking you. , I shall proceed now to the examination of a point 1 of infinite itisportance to the interests of the Univer sity, namely, what would in reality be the effect of Lunt GRENVILLE'S system; and the operations of the repeal of the Catholic Test Laws, so far as the. University is concerned, for the discussion of this tneesure in all its bearings would revire twenty letter's instead of one. Let us laeketherefore; at its peculiar bearing on ourselves. You are aware that #t present the principal barrieri which prevent the *mission of Catholics into employments under Go vernment arc, the sacramental test, and the oath of abjuration ; these, with some .others - of the same nature, Lord' GRENVILLE proposes to abolish, and in the place of them to substitute an oath or pro testation, worded according to the taste of the Ca , ' iholics, which in substance is supposed to be a re nunciation of the temporal power of the - See of Ilome in this country.- Upon this new qualification the Catholics are to be equalized - .with the members of the Established Church, in admissibility tti the -legislative, as Well as • to every. civil, military; and executive fufsetion whatever. Yea-are also - 'well aware that at present the two barriers,- and-the only two, which by local Statutes-of the- University 'stand in the way of Catholics, are the "same oath of abju ration, and the subscription to the thirty-nine arti• 0:s. Now, I will ask any man, whether he can possibly believe that these religious tests and quali fications can be kept on foot in the University, when the very same,. and all others of similar import, have been suppressed and -abolished in every department of tke State. Will' Lerd GRENVILLE allow the Ca- - tholics to be PRfCKED AND TENZED by these briars and thorns at Oxford, which he tins cut up root and tbranch in every other part of the King's dominions ? Do you really think that after his LOrdship has , taken dewn the doors of all the Courts of Justice, of the' Heise Guards, the Admiralty, the Parliament House, the council Chamber, and the Closet of the Sove reign, for the introduCtion of Papists, that the Uni- Versiiy alone will be indulged With their exclusion ? When this public Equalization' Law has passed, ytps 4 r College gates will tumble from their rusty, tiny hingee with a single kick. 'The Catholics Will not take the trouble of picking'the lock, though in the reign of JAMES 11. they were not ,inexpert at that work, and, as we recollect, got possession o f th e .clo'isters at Magdalen. 'Assert it then to. he a con sequence directly and nee•essarjly flowing from Lord RENVILLE S equalizine- L as sen principle, that Catholic • • h , en'Will obtain a right o. - matricu.anon in the. Vniv'ersity: How can it be refused to them by lord GRENYILtE, consistently with his own hypo thesis? But if • it should, will they put up with a r efusal ? No; they will react . .to his Lordship his ree.'n protest, and possibly they roay• throw it in his ace,' as a voucher to prove that whatever they demand they must have. If 'the piiblic law is gifted to their wishes, will' the private law remain v.ro.tved If the Constit.ution of the State itself is tact modelled because tbay require it, is it to he ima. gined that their modesty, delicacy, or forbearance, will abstain from insisting that the municipal Consti tution of the University should be:snrrendered to them also ? - Very short-lived indeed will be" the Lei Loci of tbe , Uoiversity when every public law WhiCh a Papist obje6t4 to shall have been erased by Lord GRENVILLE ' from the Statute Book. The . Members of the CatholiC Communion may; froM that moment, without difficulty,.be Undergradoates, Fellows, and Heads of Colleges, Tutors, Professors, 'and Magistrates of . the, University ; nay, a Catholic, might even become our Chancellor ; tot' if my sup position of fad be true, that religious Tests will va ,' nisi] . at Oxford, say they, must dO, as soon as Lord GRENVILLE • has put an extinguisher Upon them in'every other quarter of the -Empire, My de-' ductiOn is indisputable, that every place and prefer 1. meat in the University tenable by -a Layman will instantly becoMe accessible to the 'Lay Catholic as. well 'as to the Lay Protestant; for nothing as I have before shewn 41'1 - Odes the matriculation of Catholies, except those religididtests, which, for all :CIVIL par-` .poses, and in ALL 'Othei places throtighoLit the whole Empire, are to be Superseded by Lord GRENVILLE's system. haVe spoken only of the Lay or Civil branch of the University, that is, of those who are not hound to'take Orders by the StatUteS of the dif ferent. colleges all these, I say, might be'PapistS ; a pretty considerable limb of the 'whole. IdO riot stop here to aSk how - the branch of •it will stand. its ground, " parses cum prozimas ardet."' Whether 'Lord - GREtivit.ie •hat lhooglit • of 'these things I know . nat,•btit if he has, they may be pre-' cisely what - he - wishes ; he:may think' perhaps, that the reformation itself is become obsolete, and ought, like an' old:Worn out servant, Lobe, pUt upon the superannuated list,. in order to make way for some fiesh haads now .out of employ, but likely to be a little more bustling and active. We must pre, pare ourselves for something splendid ; for Lotd GRENVILLE. told the House of Lords ; ." that tie force of reason, like the rays_ of the sun, was • breaking out upon _them." I do indeed expect from his Lordship something very resplendent, and so ought the. University- too : I can imagine the illumioation Which•is to issue forth, 'and beam, upon us from all the pores of bis threatened Ca-' thoiic ,and have (feebly I admit) endea voured• to describe some few of its rays ; but for one, I declare; that I dread the coming of this solstice of lustre : know that it will bring beat With, it,..as well as light, .and I. am alarm ed for ,myself and the whole University, least it bd too much. for us, and affect us like :a coup de soleil. When I observe the' extraordi nary confidence of Lord GRENVILLE,. and when I bear him treat as visionary those apprehensions which till the present moment . have been deemed 'well founded,. what have I for my security but his' SPECULATION ? One of his Lordship's theories is, that the Catholic .few cannot injure the Protestant many; that their strength is insufficient though their designs were radschievous be ridicules the idea of numbers being overruled, and supposes that the mass of •a People may repose with 'safety mole sua. To this maxim of Lord GRENVILLE I shall op pose the wisdom of our iIIUeTIOUS CLARENDON, for whose, chair his Lordship is so vehemently strug gling, lam told by that great man,, an eye-witness to the troubles of former times, that the disasters which he relates 'were not' produced by a general combination and universal apostasy of the iclzoteria tion from their . religion and allegiance. I learn from him that a country may be overthrown, horn causes limited'and partial, against the real voice of the people, and the preponderancy' of, mere num bers. Lord GRENVILLE tells us, that we want no protection from the Catholics; no bolts or bars, no -.boundaries or separations between Its ; that we have nothing more to do, is hen .bis Catholic Bill has passed, than to go to bed without a safeguard; in the same security as our forefathers did with it, re posing in the consciousness of our own innocence:. but the Noble Historian, who has better explored the springs of public mischief and, disturbance„ structs us, that one main source of the commotion he saw was, the " permitting the innocent to be " possessed with laziness and sleep in the most visible " -article' of danger." Against this, lethatiy, I for one will 'keep my eyes open. In the election of Lord GRENVILLE to be oor Chancellor; quod .Deus avertal, I can 'discern the seed plot of nature mis fortune: to University, and every branchof our existing establishments.. As far as I can, there fore, I will resist the GRENVILLITI:g j for it is the' conviction of my mind, 'thatlf the University once submits to the dominion of GRENVILLISM, the day is not far distant when it must stoop the head 'under the yoke of Catholicism. - • TO THE EDITOR OF THE , SL' SIR, A great many rumours' have prevailed respeEting the cohtents of Lord trehviiie's Letter to the Prin- of Brazen-nose College, and many positive as- , sertions have been Made on the subled. It seems, however, on all bands to be admitted that Lord Grenville has •a wally fiiritten to the - person" in question. Why, then, Sir, is trot; his Letter given to the world, to► prevent all false reports and all idle' conjeCtures ? - I am an impartial member of .the University, and disposed to give my vote.according to my conscientious convietionof the superior merits of the candidate. • I am a zealous friend 'to the orthodox 6iahlis‘timent in Church and State', and I would exert the full scope of my huMble powers to support that establishment. • Bur, Sir, lam a friend to toleration also, and would readily make every safe and liberal concession to the Roman Catholic body, but I cannot consent to extend the:principles of toleration to any measures calculated - to weaken the bulwalks of the Constitution. 'With the 'utmost deference I say, 'that I feel as our good King ob viously feels upon this subjea. The whOie of his reign has demonstrated his sacred' regard to his Co. ronation Oath, and it it were possible'for a Monarch of this Country to Violate such a solemn obligatiOn . in one point, it might be equally possible forlmu to. trample upon it in others, and then with what, opi 7 nioii would the peopie in general look upon him It must be Sir, with fear and trembling, as to all the most valuable privileges of Englishnien. But to re- turn to Lord Greuville's Letter, - If its gen,r4l.tenof be such as must satisfy the University that he has gbandoned, all measures caltAtlated to weaken establiShmeni and to wound the feelings of our venerable Monarch, there can be no earthly reaSon' why this Letter should be kept in mysterious secresy, and his friends would be impolitic indeed in with holding what might promote-his pretensions to the Chancellorship. But the concealnret of that. Let ter is, on the other hand, enough to justify 4. sulpi-, cies), that it is not what, if submitted to open tlis 7 , cespion, would tend to serve his Lordship's cause. No such mysterious condu6l appears on the side of Lord Eldon. After havieg, by the most honourable, Course of life; risen to- the head of the Law, he is naturally desirous to give an additional grace to his character, by being at the bead of one of the first :Universities in the world. This-is a fair_objett of ambition,-and places 'his Lordship in anew point of view, as it shows that he is alive to the honours of . literature as well as to the interests of justice and morality. A Writer in a•Morning Paper of this day says, he 'hopes that " the 'Principal of Brazennosei College will not condescend to shew it - (the Letter) for the snake of grittffying curiosity." It Ts - not ex , peeted that the Principal will sheW it for such a ptir-' pose merely,but when curiosity is intimately conne6i ect with a sense of pubfic duty, and a regard fur the CoUstitutioti, as well as of the hOrzemr and consistency/ of .the University, it is, in fact, a duty in . the Prin . - cipal; as well as an a& of friendShip, - if the Letter - is such a one asst ought to - be, to let it be fairly and openly submitted to the Members. We'are, indeed, told by the Newspaper Correspondent, with an'air of authority, that "any individhal who has not made tip his mind on the 'approaching election, and who wishes with that view to have a sight of the Letter, is at liberty to see who can be sure that on application,-.he-may not ,he repulsed with an intinia tion'that the Letter is not to be exposed for the put , pose - of " gratibtugxuriosity Sir, if the Letter is still with-held, I - beg leave: to contend that, the members of the University have reason to conclude that it will not bear the light. AN OXONIAN. December Bth, MR. EDITOR, Through your Paper I' beg to inform the Principal of Brazen-nose, that the Friends of Lord GRENVILLE .have,canvassed for and obtained votes, :asserting'to .those to whom they apply that Lord GRENVILLE has, Oven an assurance that he will not again move_the Catholic Question. Will the Principal of Brazen-nose condescend to inform. the Members. of Convocation whether: the Letter to him contains any such assurance?' Can he deny that the Letter does not contain any such as , surance ? This is not asked to gratify curiosity, but as Voteis may have been misled by such.assertions,. he is requested to do justice. Surely. the Publics (ions which inform us that Lord GIZENVILLE has not said ; he will persevere in moving the Catholic Question, but which carefully avoid informing :us what he has said, are somewhat Jesuitical. OXONJENSIE. ALTER. MAILS: Azitivzn--i Dublin, Waterford. I)v!—i - Gottenburgb, Lisbon, r Cadiz, _2. Waterford. PRICE 01 STOCKS THIS DAY A. TWFLvs. O'CLOCK. Consols ••• jßed. Ann. - 69i* TEE S U, N. 80LEM QUIS DICERZ YALSUM. AUDEAT ? L 0 N D 0 .1V , SATURDAY., DECEMBER 9. 1809. Tuis tnorning we received Dutch Papers of a very recent date ; the only article of any importance th 4 contain, 'is the Address of the Legiilative Body .to Louts 13uoNAFARTE, on his departure for Paris , a nd hs Answer. The Address, after lamenting the necessity of fresh financial burthens, expresses a hope that LouiS would speedily return to his king. dom ; in - his Answer he promises to ,return time enough to terminate the business of the finances for next year, before the ist of January. There is nothing in the Address or Answer, which indicates 'any intended c►iange in the Dutch Constitution. As there have been several ails-statements, and some of them calculated to wound the feelings of the rela tives of the unfortunate sufferers on board the lost and missing East Indiamen; we publish the follow ing corre& statement of the 16st, missing, and taken, frUrri the commencement of the present year to this • day MISSING, SUPPOSED TO BB LOST. The Experiment,.Glbry,' Lord' Nelson ; lane Duchess of c.iordon, Lady Jane Oundas, Bengal, and Calcutta. ---- Britannia and Lord Gardner, lost on the Good- Win Sands. Ilalple, lost of Margate. . . - Skelton *Castle, lost near Bengal . River.. `Travers, - struck on a rock, and was lost, in India; Streatham and Europe, taken by the French in the Bay of Bengal. . .. . . . -Asia,• lost -in Bengal River, • We <ar4 happy to have it in our power to contra. dia . the -- stateineuts which are made with such per- severing 'industry respeding the sickness of Lord WELLINGTON'S Army. * We assert that the troops are, with very few exceptions, restored to perfed health,. and are abundantly supplied with provi• S:OOS. J,etters have been received from the IVediter- Tatkean which mention a report that the Russians had. entered Constantinople. The last accounts giveg by the_ 4us,fians themselyes of their progress agqi*t the Turks, lead us very much 'to doubt this account' it is to be recollected that the Turks publish no &- oils of their campa:gns ; their adversaries may thew. 'fore wi'th,ralety make what statements they please• That (he events of the war have been (pour' a ble td Russia, . we have no doubt, from the advanced positions which, according to the fast accounts, they occupied ; but we certainly do not believe that the capital of the Ottoman Empireg once the terror of Europe', has fallen so easy a WY' to the viCtors. There are also reportsin circulation, that the Spa' 'fish Army has been defeated in the vicinity of Ma' drid, and, to preserve the balance equal, there art other,repßEts,that the Spanish artny has triumphantly entered 4)1 capital. We can only say th l at Govern' merit l havq . rsceiyed no such accounts. - The following Letter is said to have been written by BUONAPARTU to the EMPEROR Of RusslA. , --W ° do not pledge ourselves for the authenticity of this Letter ; on the contrary, it appears to us to have very much, the air of a-fabrication : "MONSIEUR Mr Bauratn-y-The Duke of Vicen .za. informs me,, that your Imperial Majesty wished ; for peace with Sweden, and that you have obtained the advantages which you desired. Will your jesty permit me to congratulate you upon. the event " The negociat ions of Lltenburgh have been trans' ferred to Vienna. Prince lolin of Lichtenstein con. clefts them with M. De Champagny,! and I e•;iped shall soon be able to inform your Majesty of 'peace being concluded with Austria. You will see by tits -treaty, that conformably to your wishes, the greater part of Gallicla will npt change . masteis ; and that have managed your interests as you would have dofO yourself, conciliating every thing with that honour reqniredof inc.. The - prosperity and welfare of the Duchy of Warsaw require that it should possess the 'favOUrAletisgards of your Majesty ; and your Ma jety*:;'subitiev may rest assured that, in no case, nor under aqy , circumstances, have they to expect any pl'otettion from rne. ‘‘ I have given Austria the most advantageous peace that she could expect., She only loses Saftz burgh, and a mere trifle On 'the side of the inn. Sh e cedes . nothing in Bohemia. - On the side of Italyo ° "cedes only what is indispensable for my communica" tion'With Dalmatia.. The Austrian Monarchy, there" fore;` remains entire. This is the second experirnitrA. Which I have been willing.to Make. I have used - tok - varq her a moderation which she had no right to eipeti, i ;In this I hope I have done what is,,grati .lyingigtlol,FtlVajeaty:. "-heed your Majesty the English Journals last Peeeiv''&l-.1 Witwill there, see that the English Mi. nistks are fighting 'with each other ; that there is s revoletion in the ..Ministry, and that all is perf4. anarchy. The folly and absurdity of-that Cabina . are beyond description. • They have recently Pcc -2 ' sioned the destruaion of from 25 to MON 'merl the most horrible country in the world ; _it, $ 11 .: (3 1 , have been -Past as well to helve thrown them the sed r so pestilential are the marshes of WaiChe',,, ren !. In Spain they have lost a very vonsicieFablf nnroher of men. General Wel:es!ey has had the ex• . treme imprudence to commi: himself in the heat( Of, Spain with 30,000 men, having on his flanks three armies, consisting of gO. battalions, and frofs 40 2° .40 squadrons, whilst he had in Ibis front the ar°l commanded by the King, which was of equal force. It is difficult to conceive such an aft of oresumptio n • It remains at.present to be ascertained who are t ° ',succeed , the late Ministry, TheNnited States are on the worst terms with England;aod seem disposed, sincerely and seriouslif to appro*mate to our system. IportylGod, Monsieur my !Dr:Alter, to haire you in. kris higli and holy keeping. (Signed) - '• SChoenbrun, Ott. zo, dog." NAPOLEON: ° The King of Bavaria has followed the example ° f his Brother of Saxony, and is now at Paris, whet . are assembled the following personages :—Buoor parte, the King of Saxony, the King of Bavaria, ttl e King and .ueen of Holland, the King and QueeP ofWestphalia, the King and Queen of Naples, the Viceroy and .Vice Queen of Italy, the Prince and Princess of Lucca and Piombino, the Prince Pri mate, perhaps the King and Queen of SpaiPs 1.1 16 Prince of..Bilvaria, the sacred Conclave. While Paris presents this motley groupe of legiti niate Sovereigns and Usurpers, Buonapatte has la custody; in other parts of France, the following Per sonages :—the Pope, the late King and Queen 0 1 'Spain,Feydinand the Seventh, King of Sp a i n , the uncle and" brother of Ferdinand,. the Prince of the Peace. lhere ,was to ;)e ati cY.trnlrdinary Convocation of 'the Senate on the fist inst. The Minister Chau - wag: - ny will; at that Meeting, perhaps, declare the ar rangements determined upon by Bonaparte relative enntippnt—what nid kingdornS are to be abolished,what.new ones are to be created--what old titles to be changed, what new dignities to be invest.' ed. The Senate .in . the fullness of its adula lion, NRill agree to an Address, in which they will implore him to take another title, more vast in id signifiCation, more ample in its extent, and o 0 to which he has an undoubted tight, because it WO, possesSed by his prede.cestor Charlemagne. Buono' parte will defer to the. wishes of his beloved. Senate , and as splendid . preparations are making at Notr° Dame for the 3d, the anniversary of his Coronation , 1 . 16 will. on that day be hailed by the Cardinal Princ e Prinaat (the Pope being no longer malleable to 1 115 purpoks) Emperor of, the .West. The attendan t Kings. and Princes Ix then salute him on his neW dignity, and do him homage. A new Pope will offeri • wards be ele6ted, and Avignon will probably be again the papal residence. • Yesterday his Royal' HighnesS the Duke of Yo lt „ entertained a large party of Military G ent l e men wit h an elegant dinner, at his house it) the Stable-Yard' St. Jarues's. - His 'MAJESTY regularly visits daily, about Or e ! o'clock, the Princess' AMELIA, and remains with her ' ROyal Highness about two hours. be 'Her MAJesTY, and the other' Princesses visit . .10Y4 g 41 9I 1e 1 1. tIY